Automatic pneumatic tire-inflating means.



- xw. s. ESTLE. AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC TIRE INFLATING MEANS.

APPLlCATION FILED NOV- 7| I914.-

. Patented May 23,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

w. s. ESTLE.

AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC TIRE lNFLATl-NG MEANS.-

I APPLlQATlON FILED. N.0.V\- 1, I914. 1 483,859 Patented May 23,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNE s5 rromvsr UNrT D PATENT onnron;

WILLIAM s. mun, of NEW Yank, v. Y.

I AUTOMATIC rNEUMATIormn-rnF ArING MEANS.

- To all whom it may concern y I Be it known that I, WlLLIAM S. Es'rnn, a

. .citizen of the United States, residing at New travel.

York, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have'invented newv and useful Automatic Pneumatic Tire-Inflating Means, of which the following is a specification.

The invention herein enunciated relatesto .p'neumatic-tire-shod vehicles,'and-the prime object thereof is to provide means for keeping up the inflation of a-leaky tire during 1ts The other important objects of this invention will become obvious from the descrlp- 'tions of the advantages conserved by the use ofthe elements and combinations of elemechamsms herelnafter. described.

In the drawings Figure 1 is atop plan view of the truck of a power driven, pneumatic-tire-shod vehicle equipped with the automatic tire-inflating means of my inven tion; the wheels and the annular casing attached to each of them are shown in section, and only so' much of the truck is shown as is necessary to illustrate the principles of my invention. Fig. -2 is a .section on the line A--A of Fi 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged .30.

section of one o the ends of the pump-piston-operating shaft shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a modification, and what is at thepresent deemed the preferred form of construction, of the means for operating the pump piston or pistons by-the rotation of a member of .the vehicle or its driving means. Fig. 5 is a'section on the line 6-0 of Fig. 4.

I 2 Similar characters of referencedenote corresponding parts throughout the several means of the present "inventionconsists of: 5

' trlcally held thereto by means of two or more first, means for conveyingair-into the tire or t res of a vehicle 1n motion, and, second,

means 'foroperating a pumpfor 'umps by the rotation of some suitable 'me'm er of "the vehicle or its driving mehanism while in motion. Practically all th pneumatic-tire shod vehicles-are now. driven by some source of power, and most of thec'power dr1ven.;ve-

hicles now in use transmit the power froin' f, the motor or engine to the rear'axle'by means of a drive shaft disposed at right angles to the latter. I have therefore illustrated the principles of my invention on a truck in which the powerof the motor is transmitted I Q covers 26 thegring tothe rear axle by means of a drive shaft disposed at right angles thereto. Since, as Wlll appear hereinafter, all it is. required,

is some sort of a rotatable member, those who are proficient in the-art to which this invention appertains will'rea'dily' adapt the or motor; 16, the drive shaft which transmits the power from the latter to the said rear axle; 18, the pneumatic-tire-shod rear wheels; 20, the pneumatic-tire-shod front wheels .of-the vehicle.

priate construction deemed feasible. 7

- To' the inner side of each of the wheels 18 and 20 is held concentrically a ring 22 having a channel 24'therein. The saidring 1s held to the wheel so as to rotate therewith. Each of-thesaid ringsis provided with a'closely fitting cover 26,- held thereto movable circularly, and thus the channel 24 r the contacting surfaces of the said ring and cover are suitablybeveled'ofi, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. 4

In most of the power driven vehicles nowin use the rear wheels are furnished with .either brake dru'ms or sprocket wheels and the front wheels with gears for. operating certain apparatus. To avoid interfering with the operation of'these'devices or with the bands, chain's, or rods' which connect'the same to certain other devices, each of the covers 26 is provided with a hub 28 concenspokes 30, as clearly-shown in Fig. 1.. The

hubs '28, which to facilitate the mounting on bolted together as shown, are mountedon the I axles 10 and 12 non-rotatably, but-so as to. have a slight; axial movement'against thetensionof springs 32, so thatundertheim f the latter and the conicity of. the 22 is self-adjusting. EWIierethe room is limited, the saids'prings may be substituted by compressible rubber washers 32','as.shown in Fig. 1. The air chamber in the ring 22 communicates with These parts constir f tute theitruckj of the vehicle which, being no part ofm'v lnvention, may be of appro- Specification of Letters Patent. Pat ted M 19 Application filed November 7, 1914. Serial no. 870,739.

theusual'tire valve 34 through the medium of a suitable tubular connection'38, and, each ,1 of the covers 26 isiprovided with a nipple 36 for connecting the same with a source of air supply, as shown in Fig. 3; and thus the air pumped into the chamber 24 through the .stationarfnipple -36 enters the tire whether the-whee is at rest or in motion.

In some of the power-driven vehicles the drive shaft 16 revolves in a closely'fitting casing 16"wl1ich extends from the incased rear axle 10 direct to the casing 14 contain.-

I i the engine or motor, as in' Fig. 1, whilein others-part of the. drive shaft 16 is exposed, as Fig. 6. In the case'of the former construction a worm or screwthread 40 may be cut-or otherwise formed in the circumference of the shaft 16 and an opening 16: made, preferably, in the underside of the cas1ng16 for the. accommodation of a part of the gear 42 held in mesh with the worm' Y 40, as shown in Fig. 2. The said gear wheel is held rigidly on a shaft 44 journaled in oppositely disposed arms 46 preferab'ly'clampe'd to the incased rear axle 10, as shown in Fig.

1; and thus the rotation of the shaft 16 im parts slow rotary motion to the shaft 44.

e In order to provide a pump for each tire,

oppositely disposedpairs of pumps 50 the piston rods -52'-ofeach pair .of which are preferably connected to each other, and to avoid a swinging motionof the "piston rods -preferably by an elliptically shaped yoke 54 are suitably held in position so that the said shaft 44 rotate within the said yokes, asj

shown iii Fig. 1. On the shaft 44 are suitably mounted eccentrics 56which when the .sald shaft is mmotion move'th-e piston rods 52 .recipr'ocatingly compressing the air in cle is: not in motion, preferandvalve 60 are interposed between the real bottom 62andthe plunger cup 64 in each pump, as shown in Fig. 1.

nipple in the cover 26of the wheel adjacent thereto by a tube 66-andprovided with a' pop 7 valve 70, situated within reach of the ri er, connected thereto by a tube 68,as clearly shown inFigs. .1 and 2. And thus the leaky tire is automatically inflated during the,

travel of the vehicle and when full the surplus air escapes thro'ughthe valve 70.. j

i Means is provided for disconnecting the pump-operating mechanism when its service 1s notneeded. Thls means may be of any appropriate construction deemed feasible,

'but is preferably ofthe following construe bore 82 and a shortelongated. slot 84 in" whichfit 'r0d-86 provided with a stud 88 is held slidably against the tension of a spemg tion: In each end'of the shaft 44 is an axial 90, and in each of the eccentrics 56 is a'key way 564 into which, when the rod 86 is pushedinwardly, the stud 88 enters and keys the eccentric to the shaft, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. A bar'92 -,Fig. 1,--- suitably.v

mounted slidable longitudinally, is provided with a cam piece 94 which, when the bar is moved longitudinally, pushes the rod 86 in wardly and thuskeys the eccentric 56 to'the shaft 44.

- Means is provided for manipulating the bar 92 at a point within convenient reach of to move the bar 92 the requisite distance to connect, or disconnect, the eccentric 56 to the bar-92 is suitably curved and bent so the shaft 44. In fitting'this mechanism as to bring. the knob within convenient reach of the rider. vAnd .thus by means of the, mechanisms and arrangements of the parts described anyjone or two or all the four tires of the vehicle may be inflated,

or when leaky the inflation kept up, automatically during the travel of the vehicle and without dismo pumps in or out of operation. It is obvious :that only one or; one pair of pumps may be operated by the means and mechanisms described and tubes therefrom led to ting to throw the.

the rings 22 on thevfour wheels. Hence, I

reserve the right to use one, two or more pumps in connection wlth the alr-chamber containing annular members on the wheelsand the specific constructlon'of. themechanisms described. I

In power driven drive-shaft islpartly exposed, as in Fig-"4,

and inevery otherfconstructionof driven utilize such. means," l prefer to use either of bread," screw piston-moving means' shown in Fig.4.

facilitate the mounting without dismem- ,bering the truck, mounted a right-andlefh' hand, orreturn thread, screw [41 provided with a nut 43both of which are made in 'sectionsin which the free end of the piston rod 53,. -is held." Tubes 67 connect the pumpbarrel 51 to'the covers 27 and a tube 69 to the-va1ve 71 as shown. From the nut 43 extends a bar 97 to the free end of which is hinged a'bar 99 provided with pro ecvehicles in which the 7v or -d1-'awn vehiclein which it is possible .to' I Each of the. pumps 50 is connected .to a I v I V v the forms ofIright-and-left hand, or retumv the drive shaft 17 extending from theica's- I tions 95, 93 on its under edge and'prefer- 1 ably with a handle 101. The bar 99 is held slidably in a slot made in a fixed plate 91..

And thus when the bar 99 is inthe position shown, the rotation of the shaft 17 moves the nut, and the piston rod '53 held thereto, reciprocally the length of the screw 41. When the valve 71 blows off, the rider lifts the handle 101 and pulls the bar 99 rightward until the projection 95 contacts with the opposite face of the plate 91. The

nut 43' is thus made to run off the'threaded part of the screw 41 and the operation of the pump ceases.

I claim-- 1. In a power driven vehicle, the combination of a shaft connecting its driving mechanism to its wheels provided with suitable screw-threads, a pump piston mounted movably reciprocatingly alongside of the said shaft, and. means adaptedto able screw-threads, a pump piston mounted movably reciprocatingly 'parallelly with the I said -shaft, means-adapted to be moved by the threads in the sleeve.

the said threads operatively connecting the said piston to the said shaft, and a lever for disconnecting the said piston from the said shaft.

3. In a power-driven vehicle the combination .of a screw-threaded shaft rotatable by the propelling mechanism of the latter, a.

nuton the threaded part .of the shaft, a pump piston connected to the said nut, .and means for moving the said nut out of engagement with the said threads on the 4. In a power-driven vehicle the combination of a shaft rotatable by the propelling mechanism of the latter, a sleeve with return threads therein mounted on the said shaft, a nut on the sleeve, a pump piston connected to the said nut so that the traversing of the latter move the former reciprocatingly, and means for moving and hold ing the said nut out of engagement with In testimony whereof I aflixed my signature in the presence of two ,witnesses this 4th day of November, 1914:.

. WILLIAM S. ESTLE. Witnesses: JOHN M.-BEAT0N, Jr.,

HARRY PArrnRsoN. 

